Senior Clinical Research Practitioner / Agile Research Facilitator

Job overview

Fixed term contract/ secondment opportunity for 12 months

Would you like to take the next step in your career and help drive the delivery of world-class health research to improve people’s lives? An exciting opportunity has arisen within the NIHR East of England Regional Research Delivery Network. We are searching for a highly motivated and experienced individual for the Senior Agile Research Delivery Team Research Facilitator role to support studies in the Wider Care settings.

The role will involve engaging with stakeholders to promote research activity, site identification, set up and associated governance. The post holder will need interpersonal and leadership skills to facilitate collaborative working relationships across a breadth of stakeholders to maximise engagement opportunities across a variety of specialties and wider care settings.

It will involve working alongside different professions from multiple organisations involved in health and care research and will be an integral part of the Agile Research Delivery Team. The post holder will also work closely with the Study Support Service and the Stakeholder and Engagement team.  The successful candidate will be accountable to the Agile Research Delivery Team Manager.

If you are considering applying for this post on a secondment basis, please discuss with your Line Manager prior to applying to ascertain whether this could be supported.

Main duties of the job

• Understand and interpret complex information, data and situations to make decisions and recommendations on plans. This may include communicating and presenting to a variety of audiences.
• Ensure data integrity within relevant RDN systems.
• Support the oversight of the RDN portfolio to proactively identify potential issues and opportunities, working as an active partner to resolve and action follow-up activity.
• Where requested, track, monitor and assess study progress and provide appropriate support/ action plans for key stakeholders so they can effectively deliver their study in line with the Terms and Conditions for NIHR Research Delivery Network Support.
• Assist stakeholders who may need help to undertake feasibility, capability and capacity evaluations so organisations can deliver studies in a timely manner.
• Ensure a customer-centric approach to service delivery, ensuring that the needs and expectations of stakeholders are met or exceeded.
• Collaborate with internal teams to address challenges and optimise service delivery, identifying opportunities for process improvement and/or data display innovation within the Study Support Service.
• Support problem-solving, on request, to support RDN customers with identified challenges in study delivery.
• Champion RDN Life Sciences Industry research and the importance and contribution of industry to health and care.
• Foster a culture of continuous improvement, seeking out opportunities for innovation.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

• Accurately perform and record a range of participant assessments and physiological measurements required, according to personal competencies and the study protocol.  This may include, but not be limited to; venepuncture, blood pressure, urinalysis, weight and height.
• Appropriately document and report any serious adverse events and incidents according to regulatory requirements.
• Review research study protocols and scientific literature to identify safety aspects of research administration, and associated workload involved in running a clinical trial.
• Ensure that relevant approvals are in place prior to commencing a study.
• Analyse, interpret, compare and present a range of complex data (including research outcomes) to patient support groups and multidisciplinary team meetings.
• Using appropriate manual and computerised systems, ensure accurate collection and maintenance of all research records and results, ensuring that all data can be verified.
• Provide timely information and reports to reflect recruitment of patients including timely entry to Local Project Management Systems (LPMS).
• Work directly with local IT departments and/or software providers to address problems which may occur e.g. resolving problems with on-line data submission forms.

Please refer to the Job Description for the full specification of responsibilities and requirements for this post.